Annealing box



April 26, 1938. K, J'. DEAHL- 2,115,416

ANNEALI NG BOX Filed April 28, 1937 2 Sfieets-Sheet 2 13 20 10 l I I i Zhflnh Y f 1 I D 1 z T E y i m E 12111 1 1 21 1716 21 1718 i I I I 1 I I I I L Patented Apr. 26, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ANNEALING BOX of Pennsylvania Application April 28, 1937, Serial No. 139,577

7 Claims. (Cl. 263-49) My invention relates to annealingboxes and more particularly to those formedof sheet metal. One object of my invention is to provide an annealing box of such form which for a given weight or gauge of metal will have greater strength and resistance to deformation and, therefore, will be serviceable for a greater number of heats than will boxes of other forms.

Another object of my invention is to provide an annealing box of corrugated metal sheets wherein there is an improved arrangement of bracing and stiffening members so arranged as to reinforce and prevent deformation of the corrugations, with consequent greater resistance to any tendency of the corrugations tospread and flatten under temperature changes and other stresses, particularly in the zones where the application of furnace heat is most intense.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a box wherein the zone adjacent to the bottom edge that is subjected to the greatest intensity of furnace heat, is so formed as to have greater flexibility under temperature changes than is required or desired for other portions of the box.

Some of the forms which my invention may take are shown in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a fragmentary side view of the box, partly in section; Fig. 2 is an end view thereof; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view taken on the line IIIIII of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a view taken on the line VV of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the structure of Fig. 5, partly in section; Fig. '7 is a sectional plan view of the box, taken on line VII-VII of Fig. I; Fig. 8 is an enlarged view taken on the line VIIIVIII of Fig. '7; Fig. 9 is a view taken on the line IXIX of Fig. 8; Fig 10 shows a modification of the 40 structure of Fig. 9, and Fig. 11 shows still another modification thereof.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 9, the box is constructed of metal sheets or plates which are welded together at their abutting edges to produce a unitary box structure having side walls l0, end Walls H, and a top wall 2.

The Walls of the box are so shaped as to have oppositely-projecting corrugations or channels 13 and I4 formed therein that are substantially oo- 50 extensive with the walls of the box, the channels in the side Walls matching the channels in the top wall and being in eifect continuous therewith. These channels, of course, serve to stiffen the structure and enable it to .be made of lighter gauge material than would otherwise be possible.

The vertical channels in the side walls extend to the bottom edge of the box and serve to give greater area of support to the box.

The temperature changes to which the box is subjected are, of course, very great, and the tendency toward distortion or deformation is very great, owing to the fact that parts of the box become heated or cooled much more quickly than other parts thereof. For example, the portion of the box disposed in the sand seal does not follow changes in temperature as rapidly as other parts of the box, consequently the box near its bottom edge is subject to extreme diiferences in temperatures.

The corrugations I3, near the bottom edge of the box, are deformed or flattened somewhat,

as shown more clearly at 15 in Figs. 1 and 4, to

produce flutes or partial folds in the walls of the corrugations, in order to provide for greater yieldability or flexibility at that portion of the box, under temperature changes, since in many types of annealing furnaces, the heat of the burners is applied to the exterior wall of the box near its lower edge, with consequent greater expansion and contraction of the metal. It Will be understood that the extreme lower edge of the box which rests in the sand will become heated much more slowly than that portion of the box immediately above the sand seal. On the other hand, if the box is permitted to cool while still in the sand seal, the portion above the sand will cool much more rapidly than the lower edge of the box. The greater flexibility provided in the lower portions of the corrugations consequently permits of greater relative expansion and contraction of the box walls at such points without cracking or deforming the metal, such as so frequently happens in the case of either ordinary corrugated wall or flat wall boxes. The sand trough l6 and the sand seal formed therein may be of any well-known arrangement; but in this case can be made narrower, owing to the compressed or flattened corrugations, thus reducing the amount of sand required to effect proper seal and thereby effecting a more rapid response to temperature changes between the portion of the box in the sand and that portion just above the sand. In addition, by the use of the narrowed sand trough and the flattened wall corrugations, a furnace of a given size will accommodate a box of a somewhat larger charge capacity.

The side and end walls of the box have their corrugations strengthened and stifiened by boxthe use of elements comprising a stem portion II and a channel-like portion l8, which are suitably welded together. The stiffening members i'||8 are of a length substantially equal to the width of such corrugation or channel |3, and the outer edge of the element I1 is welded to the web of such channel. The ends of the elements I! and I8 are welded to what are'in effect the side walls of the corrugations I3, as indicated at l9.

' V The element II is welded to the channel-like element |8 along a line preferably mid-way between the flanges of the channel, before the members i? and I8 are welded to the corrugations. The members I] and I8 in effect constitute a shape that is of generally T-form in cross section.

On the outer side of the box, I provide'continuous channels 20 disposed with their flanges abut ting the outer surfaces of the corrugations I 3 and welded thereto. Reinforcing plates 2| equal in length to the width of the corrugations M are welded to the channels 20 before'the channel is secured to the box, the inner edges and ends of the plates 2| being welded to the web and side walls of the corrugations l4.

Since the filler plates 2| are of short length and do not extend across the outermost surfaces of the channels l3, there may be flow of heated gases upwardly along the corrugations l4, through paths behind the lowermost flange of the channel 20, around the ends of the plates 2| and upwardly behind the upper flange of the channel, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, thus permitting all portions of the outer side of the box' to be exposedto flow of heated gases although reinforced by the channel and the plates 2|.

The channels 20 not only serve to distribute distortions of the side walls to the various vertical corrugations, thus preventing excessive deformation and flexing of only certain corrugations, which would result in early cracking of the metal, but by reason of their form and arrangement they tend to restore the box to its original contour after each heating and cooling cycle. This latter function occurs by reason of the fact that the inner edges of the flanges of channels 20 are in spaced relation tothe webs of the inwardly projecting corrugations I4, as shown more clearly in Fig. '7. As above stated,;the heated gases flow upwardly through the corrugations, past the inner edges of the channels 20, which results in comparatively rapid heating of those portions of the channels 25 which are opposite to the corrugations M, because such channel portions are out of contact with the colder box surface and the heat is not readily conducted therefrom to the box wall nor to the metal contents within the box. The colder portions of the structure resist the tendency of these hotter portions of the channel to expand under the initial heat, with the result that these hotter portions are placed under high compression.

After an annealing operation and during the cooling cycle,,the said spaced portions of the channels 29 will cool more rapidly than those portions of the channels which are opposite to and in contact with the corrugations l3. Consequently, those said spaced portions of the chanto stiffen and hold the spaced portions of the channels 20 from excessive distortion under temperature changes. In practical use of these boxes, it has been shown that instead of the whole side of a box bulging out in the form of a curve, the bulging is confined to small amounts inwardly v and outwardly at the various corrugations.

Referring now to Fig. 10, I show a structure wherein the stiffening members for the out-' wardly-projecting corrugations l3 may be the same as above described, but in this instance I provide an outer strengthening channel 'M'whose flanges are of sufficient depth or width to engage the exposed surfaces of the corrugations M, the intermediate portions of the flanges being cut away opposite the corrugations 83. The flanges of the channels 2d are welded to the adjacent surfaces of the corrugations I3 and tions of the flanges are further cut away as indicated at 25, in order to permit vertical flow of Hi, and no stiffening plates such as 2| are required. Por- The members Hand 29 are preferablyin hori- 1 zontal alignment with'the members 39 and 3|,

' and since each of th'e'semembers is welded at its ends to the adjacent corrugation walls, they in effects form a stiffening channel extending throughout the periphery of the box. 1

I claim as my invention: I

1. The combination with an annealing box having corrugations formed in its walls, of stiffening members consisting of channels secured at their ends to the sides of the corrugations, and

reinforcing elements secured to the inner sur-' faces of the channels and to the walls of the cor-, rugations, the reinforcing elements extending in directions parallel to the flanges of the channel elements.

3. The combination with an annealing boxhaving inwardly and outwardly-projecting corrugations formed in the walls thereof, of stiffening members foreach of said corrugations, comprising channel-like elements disposed within the corrugations and secured thereto, the stiffening members positioned within the inwardly-projecting corrugations being in longitudinal alignment with the stiffening members located within the outwardly-projecting corrugations.

4. The combination with an annealing bo'x having vertically-extending corrugations formed in its walls, of a stiffening element of channel form disposed transversely of and secured to the corrugations, and reinforcing plates secured to the channel and to the box at'points between the said corrugations.

5. The combination with an annealing box having corrugations of channel-like shape formed in the walls thereof, of channels extending transversely of said corrugations and having portions of their edges welded to adjacent portions of the corrugations and intermediate portions of said edges disposed in outwardly spaced relation to relatively depressed portions of the corrugations.

6. The combination wit an annealing box having corrugated walls, of channels extending transversely of said corrugations and having portions of their edges welded to the outermost areas of the corrugations and other portions spaced outwardly from the depressed areas of the corrugations, and reinforcing plates having their inner edges secured to the said depressed areas and their outer edges secured to the webs of the channels.

7. The combination with an annealing box having corrugated walls, of channels extending transversely of said corrugations and having portions of their edges welded to the outermost areas of the corrugations and other portions spaced outwardly from the depressed areas of the corrugations, and reinforcing plates having their inner edges secured to the said depressed areas and their outer edges secured to the webs of the channels, the said reinforcing plates extending parallel to the channels and disposed approximately midway between the flanges of the channels.

' KENNETH J. DEAHL. 

